DC Nation Animation Block Premieres March 3

Warner Bros. Animation has announced that the DC Nation animation block will be debuting on Cartoon Network on Saturday, March 3, at 10 AM. (That’s a month before Marvel’s similar project.) This hour is being promoted as “exclusive kids’ television programming and shorts based on DC Comics characters … full of action and humor”.

The anchor series are the CG-animated Green Lantern: The Animated Series and the continuing Young Justice. Green Lantern launched with an hour-long movie last November, but this spring marks the debut of the recurring series. The premise is that Hal Jordan fights the evil Red Lantern Corps along the Guardian Frontier in deep space. (Emphasizing the space-faring no-Earth-connection setup I didn’t care for in the movie.) The voice cast includes:

Josh Keaton as Hal Jordan (he previously was the lead in The Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon)

Jason Spisak as Razer, former Red Lantern (he also plays Kid Flash in Young Justice)

The original programming block will also include new short cartoons featuring other DC characters. From the press release:

With fresh designs and concepts, fan favorites such as Plastic Man and Doom Patrol will finally take center stage next to the likes of Wonder Woman and Teen Titans. Bringing them to life will be the result of a collaboration with some of the top talents in the animation industry, which include award-winning Aardman Studios (Arthur Christmas, Wallace and Gromit) with its stop-motion clay animation techniques, and the unique direction and character designs of Lauren Faust (The Powerpuff Girls, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic). In addition to these shorts, DC Nation will also feature event programming, interstitials, exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at theatrical motion pictures, and an insider look into the world of all things DC Comics.

Here’s some sample art, showing Ardman’s version of the characters:

And a couple of Plastic Man stills:

Plus, I’m not sure why this Teen Titans image was included, but I love it:

Overall, DC Nation sounds like lots of opportunities to advertise cross-platform media projects to kids. That probably explains this company description at the end of the PR: “DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables), and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating its content across Warner Bros. Entertainment and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games.”